Archive for the ‘eating’ Category

Yesterday, I went up to the grocery story, and in the fruits & nuts section of, “bulk aisles”, a funny little man caught my eye. The conversation started with my asking him if he saw walnuts anywhere. He stepped aside as he pointed to one broken bin and another nearly-empty bin, which contained less than an ounce of walnut pieces, so I was out of luck. I mentioned that the pre-packaged walnuts were priced at 6.99 for seven ounces and was shocked that Central Market was charging a dollar, per ounce, for walnuts. That’s $16.00 per pound! I thought this would be the last of the conversation; no such luck.

The man then asked of me, “Say, do you go to church regularly” I responded, “No, I don’t believe in any god or gods. But, thank you.” And, that’s what I get..; I should not have added that note of appreciation, for he took it as an invitation to continue this conversation. Great. I told him I really didn’t wish to hurt his feelings, but I’ve been there and I’ve tried to believe what he thinks is true. Before he got too far into how I will end up burning in hell, I asked which church he attends. Funny; he said he goes to different churches but mostly reads the bible. So why was he asking me if I went to church? Did he want a reference? Was he starting his own church and looking for followers? Hmm?

The man said, “but there are very nice people at church…”, to which I replied, “yes, and this is the main reason I attended a Christian university and why I honestly did try to believe in that god thing. Ultimately, however, I could not.” Then he said, “Well, I used to do bad things. When I was at U.T., I was in a fraternity, and I drank and did the worst things, but I have now become a good person, and this is because of church.” Why do church-goers assume that atheists are bad people who do wrong? I explained that I’ve never been a bad person. I’ve always tried to do right by others and, when I can, to do for others. I’ve raised two children into adulthood and they are wonderfully giving people who have much compassion for others. In my life, I’ve rarely behaved badly and certainly not intentionally done so; why would I need to go to church? I have people in my life who also do good things for others and am not particularly looking for a new group. If, and it is the case, I do not believe in a god, why on earth would I go to church? Why would I wish to live a life contrary to my own beliefs? Do I really wish to live a lie?

Stumped, the man began to go down the Israel path. He mentioned how terrible Islam and Muslims are. Well, he picked on the wrong atheist to try and have a go at, this time, especially in regard to Muslims or Islam. Rather than tell him everything he knows and believes is a lie, I questioned why he would think such things. I asked, “Do you know that Muslims praise Jesus?”, and, “Do you know what Jews teach in their Talmud about Jesus? Did you know they say he is, ‘boiling in hot excrement for an eternity’, in hell?” No, he said, he had never heard such a thing. I asked him to investigate this statement. The man said he didn’t know that Muslims write, “P.B.U.H.”, after mentioning Christ. Did he know what this means? I let him know what this means; “peace be upon him.”

Then I asked him what he thinks of the occupation of Palestine. I asked if he thought it was right that our government and our Christian churches fund the occupation and genocide of Palestinians, who happen to be the rightful owners of this land. He did know this and he said, “I think anyone who participates in genocide of any people should be wiped out!” I laughed. Murdering those who commit genocide would be genocide, too. Heck, I only want, “Israel”, dismantled and the people to either accept Palestine as their homeland or for them to move elsewhere. He wants them dead.
So, who needs to go to church? What good is religion doing him?

Thankfully, the man said he reads and adheres to the King James version of the bible, only, but when he attends church, he gets his head filled with the lie of Israel. I hope he learned something from our conversation. But, I have to wonder if he will again approach others while shopping. Something tells me he may be more cautious, but in a way, I hope he continues in his quest for truth.

I was in conversation with someone who believes food will be, soon, rated and priced by the amount of radiation it contains. This might be a well reasoned idea. This is (part of) my response:

Just some thoughts:
I don’t know how much food shopping you do, but I am at different grocers’ shoppes, at least two or three times a week. What have I noticed, lately?
At one store, the shelves were filled with (mostly Californian; some Western Mexican and from other South & Central American nations’) vegetables and fruits which were oddly soft. They were not over-ripe and were not exactly spoiled. I purchased a couple of pears from this spot. They were filled with black-mold, and not just outside, but in strange places within (not like it had gotten in through a hole or blemish, as there were no blemishes; like the mold had taken up residency from within the fruit.) I saw this a year ago, in carrots; they had rings of mold within

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/AsDc-LjJNcv-jhJobfP_yFZDrwVhPgWSIvwEjvU9ERw=w251-h188-p-no ), but these carrots were not soft. They had no place outside of the body of the root, from which mold obviously entered. I actually cut apart and photographed the carrots, but I did not take pictures of the pear(s). I should have.
Beets were soft like pillows. They did not contain rotten parts and I saw no blemishes. Again, they were just soft (I did not purchase them because they felt so disgusting.) From this store, too, I purchased onions that had dried skin every few layers (like the onions grew, stopped, grew some more, and did this from the outside..) Photos of the very strange onions, which I should have videotaped:

At another store, I found a couple of perfectly round avocados. Now, I eat a lot of avocados and have never seen one the size of and shape of a plum, but this is what they were. I also found HUGE avocados that looked as if they had been bleached by the sun (or something?) I did purchase these things. And I photographed and videotaped them:

As you can see in the video, this larger pit was nearly the size of the avocado, itself. What was there, in the way of meat, was minimal and quite oily. I did not eat it. I have saved the skins and i plan on grinding them up in order to take (gamma) readings from them. I don’t know how much radiation it will show, and it may show nothing. If the fruit are affected by alpha or beta -emitting isotopes, nothing will come out on the Geiger counter. Still, it is worth a try and I will videotape whatever it shows, should it show anything.
Finally, I planted the weird avocado pits. The tiny pit (smaller than a peach pit) is growing famously. It’s already about four feet tall and is producing huge leaves. The huge pit, from the round avocado, is doing well. It is less than a foot tall and has very small, dainty leaves. This small, round avocado has produced a burgundy stem and puts forth quite dark, burgundy-coloured, leaves. We’ll see if, in seven or eight years, it will bear fruit. Perhaps none of them will produce anything?

In the grocery store that I shop at, most often, I am finding that much of certain species have simply disappeared. All peaches, nectarines, plums, etc,.., are simply gone, overnight. They have been replaced by apples, lemons, and limes. Sure, fruit is seasonal, but, I have never seen this store with none of these items, at all. It does cause me to wonder if the peaches, plums, nectarines, etc.., became soft like the beets in the first store. And it surely wouldn’t surprise me, given what I see everywhere else.
In other, smaller, stores, the shelves are just about bare (and I mean only the produce sections.) Dairy cases are not stocked as we’re used to seeing them. Butcher counters are full of two things; poultry and beef. There is not much else, not even pork, which seems off to me. That’s a big seller, down here in Texas, and the last time I was in this store, I would say I saw less than twelve pieces of pork for sale. There were quite a few packages of bacon, however, and I think it’s because they are able to preserve it for so much longer. I do have to wonder what is happening with the pigs,.. Have they been fed the soft, pillow-like, fruits and vegies? Is this why pork is missing?

Back to these fruits and vegetables;, I am seeing that all produce is being affected, to one degree or another, by this mold and by other parasites. I’ve never seen it like this. And, when I plant seeds from the produce I pick up at the store, my pots end up growing mold (and mushrooms), too. I bought and cultivated some nematodes to take out the mold-mites. But they don’t take out the mold, itself. It seems this radiation is somehow allowing for the overgrowth of parasites and fungi, at least for now, and I don’t know when this wave of tiny creatures will end. But, I do feel it will end. And this will most likely coincide with the time when many species end. It is absolutely taking place a lot faster than most people see.

Very strange things are happening within my indoor garden. The radiation level in the soil, last time I checked, was .69 mSv/hr to 72 mSv/hr. Is this why all of my plants seem to be growing so very oddly?